Length at birth unknown (smallest free-swimming specimen was 42 in [107
cm] long ); average length about 5 ft (1.6 m); largest on record is a
12.6-ft (3.8-m) long male, females may grow even larger.

Range

Widely but patchily distributed; about half of known specimens from
Sagami and Suruga Bays, Japan, most of the remainder from Kaikura, New
Zealand, and southern Africa; a substantial population apparently occurs
off Madeira.

Habitat

Demersal to mesopelagic inhabitant of outer continental shelves and
slopes; known depth range is 130 to 3 940 ft (40 to 1 200 m); most
individuals have been caught off Honshu, Japan, at depths of 200 to 920 ft
(60 to 280 m); there is curious record of a 42-in (107-cm) specimen
supposedly netted near the mouth of the Murray River, South Australia, but
there is some doubt about its capture locality.

Feeding

Records of stomach contents are rare; known prey includes small
mesopelagic teleosts; myodocopid ostracods and a juvenile cranchiid squid
(both of species known to be vertical migrators), and an unidentified
crab. Apparently sluggish, feeding in mid-water and possibly on or near
the bottom (teeth have been found embedded in submarine cables), probably
using the electrosensitive rostrum to detect prey and capturing it from
close range using a combination of protrusible jaws and pharyngeal
suction.

Reproduction

Almost certainly ovoviviparous, as in other lamnoids; no pregnant
specimen has been collected, thus no data available on gestation period,
number of pups, pupping season, or nursery grounds.

Age & Growth

Males are immature to 7.5 ft (2.3 m), one 12.6-ft (3.8-m) specimen had
sperm in the seminal vesicles and calcified claspers, indicating probable
maturity; no data on size at maturity in females. No data on growth rate,
age at maturity, or longevity for either sex.

Danger to Humans

Probably minimal.

Utilization

Minimal; apparently fished commercially off Japan and sporadically taken
as bycatch while deep-sea longlining for scabbardfish (Trichiuridae) off
Portugal. Elsewhere, taken primarily as bycatch of deep-water trawls and
occasionally with deep-water longlines, deep-set gill nets, and possibly
purse seines. Utilized dried salted.

Remarks

Although probably common, this species is rarely seen and is thus poorly
known; catches should be preserved and reported.

By any standard, the Goblin Shark is a bizarre creature. Growing to a length
of over 10 feet (3 metres), it has a soft, flabby body, is colored bubblegum
pink, and has a peculiar, blade-like snout overhanging long, highly protrusible
jaws bristling with slender, fang-like teeth. This species is usually depicted
with its jaws fully extended, resembling a forceps-jawed, snaggle-toothed demon
wearing a papal mitre. One would expect that any specimen of this weird shark
turning up anywhere on the planet would be as instantly recognizable as would a
stegosaur. But, with the exception of serious shark enthusiasts, few people have
ever heard of  let alone anticipated encountering  such a piscine gargoyle.

The Goblin Shark is generally regarded as being quite rare. Only about 45
Goblin Sharks have been described in the scientific literature. Over half of
them (25 specimens) were taken off the coast of Japan, with most of the others
from off New Zealand (6) and southern Africa (4). The remaining ten or so known
Goblin Shark specimens came from scattered locations around the globe. Yet our
planet is shrinking at an alarming rate. With modern telecommunications
technologies  such as fax-modems, the Internet, e-mail, and special-interest
list-severs  becoming ever more widespread, it is increasingly unlikely that
rare or unusual sharks will go unreported, no matter where they turn up. But
sometimes the unprecedented turns up virtually in one's lap . . . or laptop, as
the case may be.

In September 1998, biologist John Ugoretz of the California Department of
Fish and Game sent out the following cyber-plea on ELASMO-L, a list-server
dedicated to academic discussions about cartilaginous fishes:

Weird California Shark

The attached photos are of a shark caught by a drift
gillnet boat in Southern California. I have already sent them to Jeffrey Seigel at the LA County Museum, but I thought I'd try this list also.

The fish was approximately 8 to 9 feet [2.4 to 2.7
metres] long. The body was discarded, and I'm not sure if the fisherman still
has the head. I'm checking into the details of the catch location and will
post them later if I get any.

If you cannot open the file (I'm sending it two
different ways, as a "bmp" and a "jpg" file, I don't have
much luck with computers) I'll describe it as best I can:

The skin is pale, white/grey and appears very soft.
The eyes are small and highly reflective (like in deep water species). The
teeth are impressive, long narrow and highly pointed. The snout is about two
feet [60-centimetres] long, flat and shovel-like. "nostrils" are
located the front of the upper jaw, at the base of the long snout.

Any guesses?

Within hours, Ugoretz received dozens of responses from helpful people
(including yours truly) who recognized the fish in question. Despite John's
computer misgivings, both his image files opened just fine, and  sure enough  they showed the head of a large Goblin Shark, jaws retracted but bristling with
stiletto-shaped teeth and looking fierce even in death (had its jaws been
protruded, it is quite likely that the creature's identity would have been
recognized instantly). As this capture represents the first known occurrence of
the Goblin Shark in the eastern Pacific and the first in American waters, I
suggested that such an important range extension for this little-known species
should be written up for the scientific literature. I am pleased to report that,
as I write this, a short scientific paper on this capture is being prepared by Ugoretz and Seigel for publication in the journal, California Fish & Game.

Perhaps the Goblin Shark is not nearly as 'rare' as catch records would seem
to indicate and its apparently patchy distribution may be an artifact of
reportage. It may even be fairly abundant at some locations. Although officially
only one Goblin Shark has been recorded from Portuguese waters, recent reports
suggest that this species is not at all uncommon in deep waters off Madeira.
According to Portuguese naturalist Pedro Miguel Niny Cambaira Duarte, a total of
four confirmed catches of Goblin Shark  none longer than 5 feet (1.5 metres)  are known from Sesimbra, one of Portugal's most prominent fishing localities. In
addition, between December 1995 and February 1996, Duarte observed, or was
reliably informed of, three additional Goblin Shark specimens  ranging from 5.4
to 6.6 feet (1.6 to 2 metres) in length  captured in the "Sea of Bombaldes",
15 miles (24 kilometres) west of Cape Espichel. The sharks were caught at a
depth of about 1 800 feet (600 metres) on deep-water longlines set for Black
Scabbardfish (Aphanopus carbo)  an elongate, ferociously predatory fish known
locally as 'espada' and considered quite a gastronomic delicacy. Portuguese
espada fishermen attest that they catch an average of four Goblin Sharks per
year while fishing for espada in this part of the eastern Atlantic. Based on
these recent catches and the pescado's credible reports, Duarte speculates that
there may be a substantial population of Goblin Sharks in deep waters off the
Iberian Peninsula.

Even if they are fairly abundant at certain locations, Goblin Sharks are no
less bizarre. But as ever more specimens are examined, the form and function of
many of this species' stranger features are coming to light. Consider the Goblin
Shark's odd coloration. As long as the species was known only from long-dead
representatives, its color in life was presumed to be the same drab greyish-brown
observed in preserved specimens. But in March 1976, ichthyologists Teruya Uyeno,
Kazue Nakamura, and Susumu Mikami published a short paper which included
spectacular color photographs of a living (though moribund) Goblin Shark,
revealing for the first time this species' completely unexpected pigmentation:
soft pinkish or purplish-grey, with translucent peacock-blue margins on the
fins. Several other fresh specimens (including John Ugoretz' partial one from
California and a whole individual from off New Zealand) have revealed that this
decidedly unshark-like coloration is indeed typical of this species when alive
or freshly dead. The color is not due to pink pigments in the skin, however, but
largely due to oxygenated blood in capillaries (tiny blood vessels) close to the
body surface and visible through the translucent dermis. Were it not for
advances in freezing and shipping technologies, we would never suspect that the
ocean is home to a pink Goblin.

Arguably, color is not the Goblin Shark's most conspicuous or surprising
feature. Its combination of elongated, trowel-shaped snout overhanging snaggle-toothed,
forceps-like jaws is quite unique. Small wonder that this improbable beast is
sometimes known by such fanciful names as "elfin shark", requin lutin
(French for "imp shark"), and tiburσn duende (Spanish for
"hobgoblin shark"). The first known specimen  a 42-inch
(107-centimetre) juvenile male  was caught by Japanese fishermen in 1898,
hauled up from deep water in the "Black Current" off Yokohama. These
fishermen, who were quite accustomed to strange things pulled from the deep-sea,
called this weird fish tenguzame, which means "goblin shark". This
descriptive moniker has become its common name in English, but does nothing to
explain the creature's perplexing countenance.

In fresh Goblin Shark specimens, the jaws are loosely slung beneath the head
and can easily be pulled outward or pushed back into place. In preserved
specimens, however, much of this oral flexibility disappears. Most Goblin Shark
specimens have been preserved with their jaws protruded to varying degrees
(Perhaps because many died trying to bite the net that had cruelly and
unceremoniously ensnared them?). Since the degree of jaw protrusion radically
changes the appearance of the shark's whole head, it is not surprising that such
variation in preserved specimens generated much confusion about how many species
of goblin shark there are. During the early 20th Century, it seemed as though
each new goblin shark capture represented a new species, thus we had, Odontaspis
nasutus de Braganza 1904 (from off Portugal), Scapanorhynchus jordani Hussakof
1909 (Japan), Scapanorhynchus dofleinii Engelhardt 1912 (Japan), and
Scapanorhynchus mitsukurii White 1937 (Japan). All these nominal species are now
known to represent a single, widely distributed species: Mitsukurina owstoni
Jordan 1898. What had misled each of those erecting a new species was
specimen-to-specimen variation in jaw protrusion.

With its jaws protruded, the Goblin Shark looks like nothing else on earth.
With its jaws retracted, however, it looks considerably less bizarre  superficially resembling certain deep-sea sharks, such as the ghost catsharks
(genus Apristurus) or the birdbeak dogfishes (Deania). The retracted jaws fit
snugly into a depression on the underside of the long, blade-like snout. It is
tempting to envision a Goblin Shark swimming just above the substrate and using
its nose tip like a prod to flush benthic fishes and crustaceans hiding in
bottom crevices, then snapping them up using its loosely slung jaws like a
spring-loaded trap. Unfortunately for this nifty scenario, the snout itself is
surprisingly soft, being almost rubbery in texture. The snout's upper and  especially
 lower surfaces are studded with electrosensitive ampullae of
Lorenzini, suggesting that this rhinal protrusion may function primarily in
prey-detecting rather than prey-stabbing or prodding. Unfortunately, until quite
recently, virtually nothing was known about what Goblin Sharks eat, let alone
how.

Stomach contents are recovered from sharks relatively infrequently. This may
be due to the tendency of many line- or net-caught sharks to regurgitate as they
are hauled to the surface. Even when they are found, shark stomach contents are
often reduced by digestion to a thick, smelly 'soup' with barely-to-quite
unidentifiable globs of prey remains in suspension. Despite these logistical
difficulties, more-or-less identifiable stomach contents have been reported for
seven Goblin Shark specimens from four countries. Stomachs of Japanese
individuals contained mostly half-digested teleost parts (fin rays, muscle
blocks, and vertebrae), but one large individual also contained crab remains; a
large specimen from southeastern Australia contained only an elongate silvery
structure with a central lumen, apparently a teleost swim bladder; a small
specimen from off South Africa contained pelagic octopus, crabs, and a
deep-water rockfish known as a Jacopever (Helicolenus dactylopterus), while a
small specimen from New Zealand contained a single, unidentifiable eye lens.
From such meager data, few worthwhile conclusions about the feeding habits of
Goblin Sharks could be drawn.

In April 1998, a 50-inch (128-cm) immature female Goblin Shark was taken off
Kaikoura, New Zealand, in a bottom gillnet set at a depth of 1,050-1,445 feet
(320-440 metres). Evidence contained in the gut of that one specimen was to
challenge virtually everything we thought we knew about Goblin Shark dining
habits. In a 1997 paper, biologist Clinton J. Duffy described the stomach
contents of this specimen and speculated about what the identifiable prey items
imply about the feeding biology of Goblin Sharks in general. Duffy found that
the little Goblin's stomach was mostly empty, but included the following: the
beak of an immature squid from a species called Teuthowenia pellucida, two
relatively large and three smaller eye lenses, a small number of fish scales of
a type known as cycloid (smooth, without tooth-like projections on the edges and
exposed surfaces), two relatively intact and two disarticulated ostracods (a
subclass of planktonic crustacean) of a species called Macrocypridina castanea
rotunda, and 16 mostly decalcified Goblin Shark teeth (probably dislodged and
swallowed with prey).

From these gut contents, Duffy was able to deduce that the juvenile female
Goblin Shark had been feeding, not near the bottom  as had been widely supposed
of her species  but in mid-water. The beak and large eye lenses were probably
the remains of a single immature Teuthowenia pellucida. Juveniles and early
subadults of this species are vertical migrators, remaining in mid-water depth
of 2,300 to 2,950 feet (700 to 900 metres) during the day and moving surfaceward
to depths less than 985 feet (300 metres) at night. The cycloid scales were
deemed typical of small, mid-water teleosts such as lanternfishes (family
Myctophidae); whatever their identity, most mid-water teleosts are vertical
migrators. Similarly, the ostracod Macrocypridina castanea rotunda  which grows
to a diameter of about 1/4 inch (0.7 centimetres), or about the same as a pea  is a vertical migrator, typically inhabiting depths of 655 to 1,640 feet (200 to
500 metres) by day and as shallow as 115 feet (35 metres) by night. As little
else was found in the little Goblin Shark's stomach and the ostracods were
relatively intact, it seems unlikely that these delicate crustaceans were
ingested in the stomach contents of another prey item.

The Goblin Shark's anatomy also suggests a mid-water habitat. The majority of
squaloids found at similar depths to Mitsukurina owstoni are active species
sharing the following features: a solid, well-muscled, fusiform (spindle-shaped)
body; large eyes with permanently dilated irises; compact, powerful jaws of
limited protrusibility and equipped with blade-like lower teeth; and a powerful
tail with a short, almost symmetrical caudal fin (ideal for facilitating bursts
of acceleration). In contrast, the Goblin Shark has soft, flabby body with
weakly developed myotomes (muscle blocks); small eyes with contractile irises;
long, rather delicate and highly protrusile jaws armed with slender, spike-like
teeth; and a long, highly asymmetrical caudal fin with a low thrust-angle (a
feature common in sharks known to be rather languid swimmers). Taken in concert,
these features indicate that the Goblin Shark is a relatively inactive species
with a density close to seawater. Its prey and anatomy strongly suggest that the
Goblin Shark is a sluggish beast and that at least some individuals visit
mid-water zones well off the bottom, possibly vertically migrating along with
their prey.

Now that he had a clear 'snapshot' of what Goblin Sharks eat, Duffy could
better speculate on how this mysterious species feeds. Detecting prey in the
vast blackness of the deep-sea, however, is no easy task. At mid-water depths,
precious little light filters down from the surface, rendering vision all but
useless. Duffy speculates that the Goblin Shark's spatulate, ampulla-peppered
snout may function as a forward-projecting prey detector, in much the same way
as certain halfbeaks (teleost fishes of the family Hemiramphidae) use the
lateral line organs along their elongated lower jaws to feed at night. However,
the Goblin Shark possesses small but functional eyes, perhaps able to capture
the faintest glimmer that may betray the presence of prey. Like many mid-water
animals, both the squid Teuthowenia pellucida and the ostracod Macrocypridina
castanea rotunda are bioluminescent, so perhaps the Goblin Shark detects such
prey visually. But it is probably not an either/or matter. It seems likely that,
in the vastness of the deep-sea, Goblin Sharks would take advantage of as many
prey-detecting strategies as they are able.

Given its apparent sluggishness and near-neutral buoyancy, Duffy speculates
that the Goblin Shark probably hangs nearly motionless in the water, ambushing
its prey from close range like a pink crocodile. A 1990 paper by shark
systematist Leonard Compagno suggests that, as in the related Megamouth Shark (Megachasma
pelagios), prey capture in Mitsukurina is probably affected by highly co-ordinated
movements of the protrusible jaws, expandable pharynx (throat) and associated
structures. According to Compagno, as the Goblin Shark's loosely-slung jaws
protrude forward, the pharynx expands downward. These paired actions greatly
expand throat volume and thereby create a strong negative pressure inside the
pharynx that sucks prey animals into the mouth. Most of the Goblin Shark's lower
jaw is filled by a large, highly mobile basihyal ('tongue'), which probably
enhances the creation of a powerful pharyngeal suction to hoover up hapless
prey. The Goblin Shark's wicked-seeming, fang-like teeth ensure prey capture,
grasping it securely as the jaws retract into the head. Thus, considered in
context of the challenges posed by its deep-sea habitat, the Goblin Shark ceases
to be a grotesque or freakish 'monster', becoming instead a remarkable example
of lamnoid biomechanics and adaptability.

The Goblin shark has long been assumed to be a deep-sea, bottom-dwelling
species. But a careful examination of catch records suggests that such may not
be the case  at least in some parts of its range. The greatest depth from which
a Goblin Shark has been taken is 4,265 feet (1,300 metres), caught off Sydney,
Australia. That's deep by swimming-pool standards, but represents only a little
more than one-third as deep as the greatest depth recorded for any shark -12,060
feet (3,675 metres), a record held by the Portuguese Shark (Centroscymnus
coelolepis)  and is about the same as the greatest depth recorded for the White
Shark (4,200 feet or 1,280 metres), a species no ichthyologist considers to be a
deep-sea shark. Most specimens of Goblin Shark recorded to date, however, have
been taken from Sagami and Suruga Bays, on the south-east coast of Honshu
Island, Japan, at depths of 200 to 920 feet (60 to 280 metres). Off the Izu
Shichito islands  located a mere 40 miles (64 kilometres) from downtown Tokyo  a 6-foot (1.75-metre) female and an 8-foot (2.5-metre) male Goblin Shark were
captured at a depth of only 130 feet (40 metres). That's near the safe depth
limit for recreational scuba divers, and it may be only a matter of time before
some lucky underwater photographer snaps the first portrait of a free-swimming
Goblin Shark.

From those images and the diver's first-person account of an encounter with a
living Goblin, we would probably learn more about the behavior of this
mysterious species than in the entire century since it was first discovered.
Here's hoping that, within a few hours of being captured on film, such
tantalizing images will be digitized and available on the Internet to inspire
amazement, awe, speculation, debate and  above all  a deep sense of wonder.
What brave new world, that has such pixels in it.